Step 1) Supplies, Supplies, Supplies: Grab planters in whatever shape, size, color & texture you want. I started with this lime green planter that I've had for ages. Other than your planter/container, you'll need a bag of soil, gardening gloves (I use my hands) and your flowers and plants.

Step 2) Prepping the Planter:

Place a few large rocks in the bottom of the planter to cover the small holes. This will allow the water to drain out, but will help keep the dirt in and your porch, patio or deck nice and clean! Fill the pot with soil.

Step 3): Arranging your plants: Grab the flowers you've selected and arrange them in your container if space allows. This will give you a good idea of how they will look once planted together.

When deciding what to plant, you should consider where they will be planted and how much sunlight they will get daily. Other things to consider when picking your plantings are your color scheme, surrounding plantings and how much care you're willing to devote to them. ﻿﻿

Arrange plants in your container before planting to make sure you like the layout!

﻿﻿﻿ This planter is on our front porch so it gets full sun & partial shade.

A Better Homes & Garden tip is "If you have a combination of sun and shade on your patio, any area that receives fewer than 6 hours of sunlight each day calls for shade-loving plants.

Adding some color to the deck area. I'd like to fill the space with tons of colored planters!

We planted planter boxes on the porch railing! Love it!

As you can see, it's easy to get carried away once you start planting your container gardens! I've enjoyed learning about different types of plants & flowers and experimenting with colors, textures and varieties!

June 21st-I've added a few pics from the past week just to show their growth!

My deck planters are doing oh so well!

Added a sweet potato vine & geranium mix to the patio area!

This is the view of our patio area-the pergola & firepit make for some fun nights!!

My porch planters are thriving with all of this good old Indiana rain!!

Here's a close up of my porch planter! Love how much they're growing!!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

If you're anything like me, I love my kiddos, but can't stand most of the overly kiddy themed party and room decor. Can we tone it down with the Elmos, the trains, the Dora's...oh my!! My baby youngest just turned one and finding cute decorations for his first birthday party was nearly impossible.

What I decided to do was to coordiate the party decor with his birthday outfit-an adorable "1" onesie from Target. I love the simple pattern (stars are great for boys & girls) and colors (browns, greens & blues).

Also found some cute "1" cupcake toppers at Hobby Lobby ($2) and the perfect fabric birthday banner at Target ($3).

We ordered a dozen lime, blue & frosted blue balloons from Party City ($10) and I created water bottle labels using a template I found online and full sheet labels that were cut to size. I'm all about using Avery labels and their Design on line website to personalize party decor.

Another fun decor idea was wrapping a cork board in wrapping paper & posting a few pics of our birthday boy on it. Guests were asked to write a special wish for him which I'll put in his scrapbook. Kanon still loves looking at his baby scrapbooks & reading all of the special memories and wishes our friends and family wrote to him.

Total Decor Cost: approx $20

Birthday banner & dessert area

﻿﻿FOOD: Ordered the cupcakes ($12 for 20), chicken fingers ($20 for a tray) & wedges (2lbs for $4) and Sparkling lemonade from Wal-Mart ($2). Also grabbed a bag of Animal cookies & a few bags of candy from DollarTree ($5).

Total Food Cost: approx $45

FAVORS: I had two sets of favors (for adults & kids).Wal-mart had these great lime colored treat boxes (8ct for $1.50) that were great for adult parting gifts. I jazzed them up with personalized labels I made with Microsoft Publisher & filled them with candy & party horns.

I bought adorable lime & blue water bottles with crazy straws for the kids ($1 each). I filled clear treat bags (from my stash) with Dollar Store candy, created a simple tag to match the decor and tied them to the bottles. The kids loved them!!

Total Favor Cost: approx $20

So that's Kolton's first birthday party in a snapshot! We had a blast and were so appreciative that we were able to share it with our closest friends & family!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

﻿﻿It's beginning to look a bit like summer so we've really starting sprucing up our outdoor space. Since the bulk of our outdoor budget is being spent on landscaping (one of the not so fun parts of new construction), I had to get creative to achieve the look I want.

I was inspired by these Crate & Barrel outdoor sets-but couldn't swing the hefty price tags!

The chairs alone are $200 each-that's not including pillows, tables or the firepit. Ouch!

So, off I went to my fave discount shopping spot (Goodwill) and managed to snag these two plain white Adirondack style chairs for $5 each AND the perfect wooden slat side table for $15. I used a few cans of Rustoleum Hammered spray paint & added these simple cushions from Kohl's (on sale) for less than $20.

So, for around $50, I was able to revamp our outdoor space. I still need to freshen up last year's firepit (and ahem-spruce up the patio with some flowers, etc), but I'm loving the way things are coming together!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

I've been spending a lot more time at Dollar Tree these days and I've been amazed at some of the things I've found!! My latest & greatest Dollar Store find is this adorable vinyl "Wish it. Dream it. Do it." stickers for Kanon's closet!

Our old house had a full playroom for Kan so he was a bit bummed that our new house didn't have a special room for him & his toys. My solution was to turn his walk-in closet into a multi-functional space that stores his clothes, books, games, toys & more. I just added a chalboard dresser & dressed up the walls with a few of his school projects & the vinyl stickers.

I love vinyl rub ons & stickers because they're such a great and simple way to instantly add some pizzazz to your walls. Plus, they're removable!!

The adorable poster was a gift from his preschool teachers to commemorate the school year. It was hilarious to read some of the career goals these his classmates came up with! One of them listed "Ninja" as what he wants to be when he grows up-too cute. It's no surprise that my son wants to be a basketball player!!

So, back to the stickers-Can you believe they were just $1?? Crazy, right? I'm used to spending much more for vinyl rub ons, but now that I know how well these work, I'll definitely be popping back over to Dollar Tree for more!!!

What interesting decor finds have you scored from the Dollar Store? Thanks for popping by!!!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

﻿ A week or so ago, if you would've asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day-I would have told you that I want one whole day to myself. No boys, just me, me, me!! A day that I can wake up when I feel like waking up (versus waking up to one child screaming on the monitor or the other jumping into bed with me), do whatever I want to do (even if that means laying around watching TV uninterupted) and go wherever I want (without hauling a 10 lb diaper bag, 20 lb child & dragging an unwilling & unenthusiastic 5-year old along)!! ﻿

My Mother's Day gift from Kanon

﻿

But let's face it-even if I was blessed enough to have a day without the kiddos, I'd probably spend it by shopping for them, missing them and feeling guilty for being away from them.

A few days ago I was frustrated and overwhelmed-so much to do, so little time to get it all done. But somehow, just after picking Kanon up from school I was reminded of what really matters in life-my boys. He hopped in the car and couldn't wait to reach into his school bucket to give me the Mother's Day Gift that he made just-for-me!! It's a simple cup with green tissue paper & a paper flower stemming from it. The middle of the flower says-I love My Mom because and all of the petals list the reasons that he loves me.....

-She makes good steak.-She cleans the house.-She looks pretty in the sunshine outside.-She plays basketball with me.-She takes me to the gym.-She reads to me before bed.

How sweet!! This precious little gift absolutely melted my heart! It made me feel so special to know that the simplest things are what make him love me most! My presence is a present! Sometimes as parents we tend to spoil our kids with things yet the thing that they appreciate most is us-our time, our undivided attention!!
So, if you were to ask me how I want to spend my Mother's Day-I'd have to say-by just relaxing, enjoying & appreciating my hubby & my boys! God has been so good to me-my little guys are such a blessing and my life wouldn't be complete without them.

Years back when I was pregnant with Kanon, I remember hearing mother's tell me to enjoy every minute-the good and the not so good-because they grow up so quickly! It's oh so true-my little angel will be heading to Kindergarten in a few months-big sigh! Be present & embrace every step, every second & every day!

Just wanted to share this with each of you and wish you a very special & magical Mother's Day!!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

My 5-year old son's dresser was a cheapo particle board one from Value City Furniture. Although it lasted a year or so, it's been missing a drawer for quite some time now. I've been stalking Craigslist for a great deal and a few weekends ago I finally stumbled upon a two-for-one that I couldn't pass up. A five drawer dresser plus armoire for right around what I paid for his old dresser. Score!

Only problem is that the set was being used in a little girls bedroom, so I had to figure out a way to make it fit. The previous owner really dolled it up-rickrack ribbon trim, girly butterfly drawer knobs, yellow paint...the works. The dresser sat in our garage for almost a week before I came up with the perfect solution. Chalkboard paint!! I've been itching to get my hands on some for quite some time and even pleaded with my hubby to let me paint one of the walls in Kanon's room with chalkboard paint-but it was a no go. This was my perfect chance to run to Lowe's to grab a quart-yippee!!

I couldn't be happier with how the dresser turned out. In addition to the chalkboard paint I salvaged the white knobs from his old dresser as well as leftover stainless knobs from our old kitchen.

My only regret is that I didn't think to take before pics so you guys could see just how "girlified" this dresser was! Ah well-it's perfect now-and best of all, it's also educational!! Now, I've just got to tackle the armoire-sigh!!

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Have you used Chalkboard paint for any projects around your house?